No Beer, No Work
By Sammy Edwards
Published 1919

[verse 1]
Johnny Hymer was a miner always on the job,
Johhny loved his lager like a sailor loves his grog.
One day his foreman told him that this country would go dry,
John threw his tools upon the ground,
You should have heard him cry.

[chorus]
No beer, no work will be my battle cry,
No beer, no work when I am feeling dry,
I never could like lemonade or bevo*
For beer is all I'll buy,
I'll hide myself away, until some brighter day,
When I can sip the lager from a stein,
No beer, no work will be my battle cry,
After the first of July, No Beer, no work

[verse 2]
Johnny's steady ever ready to give good advice,
Said, "Go back to work or there'll be no old shoes or rice,
Be like Kipling's hero, bear your troubles with a grin."
John said, "I'll be your hero, but I'll be no Gunga Din."

[verse 3]
When I was a baby said our Johnny with a smile;
They raised me a bottle, now they want to change the style!
John Barleycorn's a friend of mine my daddy knew him well,
He'd bring John home with him at night,
And ma would give him (____) Crash

[repeat chorus]

*a non-alcoholic beer